Treats
by LJL
Summary: (ON HIATUS) Series of fluffy one-shots. Trying to have any sort of relationship at the Xavier Institute may seem like a bad idea; trying to have a relationship with a girl whose only family is Wolverine might be downright suicidal. Julian/Laura. Rating for frank descriptions of sex.
1. Midnight Treats

Disclaimer: The author of this story has no affiliation with Marvel, the owners of the characters herein. No profit has been, nor will be, made for the making or distribution of this piece.

A Note on Timeframe: This piece takes place after M-Day and the attack on the former students, but before the formation of the New X-Men. I know that kind of strains continuity - Laura shows up at the mansion just after the bus attack and just before the selection of the New X-Men. Call this an AU if you must; I just picture it as stretching out the time between events in canon.

Enjoy.

MIDNIGHT TREATS

Logan wasn't thrilled when, on his way to the kitchen at one in the morning for a midnight snack, he ran into one of his least favorite people at the Institute: Emma Frost, the erstwhile headmistress. As always, the hair on the back of his head stood on end the second they made eye contact, a subtle sign that on some level she was attempting to probe his mind and was running up against his psychic shields. For a second they both stood, looking at each other across the hallway, Logan's hand on the door to the kitchen. He thought about saying something about the probe - possibly just tapping his forehead and smiling at her, that had a tendency to unnerve people the way Logan liked - but ultimately decided against it. A quick mind probe was like "hello" to psychics like Frost.

He preferred more traditional ways of greeting people. "'Lo, Emma," he said, nodding.

Frost nodded back to him, her haughty expression betraying the slightest frustration at being repulsed by Logan's fortress-like mind, her nose wrinkling up in annoyance, like she was smelling something unpleasant. _Every time she does that_, Logan thought. _Wonder if she does that to Summers. Wonder if she does that to Summers in bed. Serves him right. _"Hello, Logan."

"Couldn't sleep?" Logan asked, his hand still on the kitchen door. He was hoping they could exchange a few awkward pleasantries - for someone used to the total honesty of knowing exactly what everyone around her was thinking, Frost was unusually concerned with banal conversation at times - and be on their (separate) ways. If he opened the door and walked in before they'd parted she might follow him in and he might have to put up with her for longer.

She quirked an eyebrow at him and nodded again. "If only Scott had a similar problem. I'm afraid his..._endurance_...doesn't match mine."

Logan rolled his eyes. "Not information I need or want, darlin'."

Frost put a hand one hip, leaving an imprint in the skintight white dress she was (barely) wearing. Logan had a moment to wonder if she never changed to go to bed, since she was always wearing a similar getup, but then he remembered that he himself was wearing a plaid shirt and jeans, just like he'd worn for the last two straight weeks. "I am not your 'darling.'"

Logan shrugged. "Who said you were? We done here?"

She sighed. "I suppose I'm bored. Entertain me."

It was Logan's turn to quirk an eyebrow at Frost. _Not getting rid of her any time soon. Might as well see if that slice of cheesecake's still hidden in the back of the fridge_. "Coming from any other woman on the planet, I'd have interpreted that a little different. I'd have _wanted_ to interpret it a little different, if you get my drift."

To his annoyance, she did follow him into the kitchen and watched as he pulled open one of the large, industrial grade refrigerators. They'd had two dozen of them back when the school had had an actual population, beyond what remained of the X-Men and the next generation after M-Day. He started pushing things aside - low population aside, a mansion full of teenagers and superheroes generated a lot of leftovers. "I am certain I could think of at least one woman you wouldn't want to interpret that different from. Your sister, for one."

Logan stopped looking through the fridge to look back at Frost. "First off, lady, you gotta be pretty twisted to even think of that. Second of all, Laura's no woman, she's a _girl_, a kid, which really just makes the whole idea that much worse."

Frost grinned, leaning back against one of the counters. _Probably realizes she struck a nerve_, Logan reasoned. _Bitch has it easy insulting other people, with me she has to try to figure out what to say. How do I make this game not fun for her so she leaves me to my damn cheesecake?_ "She's what, sixteen? Seventeen? You might want to get used to the notion that she's becoming a woman, Logan."

Logan shoved a casserole dish full of tater tots (_whose idea was it to put _those_ in the refrigerator?_) a little too hard and he heard it crack against the side of the refrigerator. "Seventeen. We ain't discussing this."

He could _feel_ Frost's grin widening. "On the contrary, we are. I've been meaning to talk to you about X-23 - "

"Laura," Logan growled, threateningly, still looking through the fridge.

"Fine, _Laura_," Frost bit back. "Anyway. How would you say the little psychopath is settling in?"

Logan pushed aside another casserole dish and sighted his target at the back of the fridge - a paper plate with red plastic wrap covering it, a small, yellow-white slice of cheesecake underneath. _Bingo. I've got the sweet, now if only I can get rid of the sour_. "_Laura_ is settlin' in just fine. I told you, you don't have to worry 'bout her. I've got it under control."

Frost shook her head. "That's the problem with her," she said. "She is inherently _out_ of control, Logan. Why do you think they built that trigger scent into her mind? Built it in so deep that even _I_ can't get it out."  
Logan rounded on her, but rather than popping his claws and shredding her into tiny little scantily-clad pieces, he grinned maliciously and spoke. "Chuck probably coulda." _And Jean too_. The second part went unspoken - Logan's irreverence might go so far as to invoke the name of the still-missing professor for a jab at Frost, but it definitely did not stretch far enough to do the same for Jean Grey, his - and Scott's - dead love, and Frost's main rival for Scott's romantic attention. _Despite being dead. Ah, she never stays dead more'n a few years anyway. Probably be back by Christmas._

Frost's eyes grew cold. _Logan - 1, Emma Frost - er, 1, I guess. Damn. _"I highly doubt that," that she responded, her words clipped. "Don't try to change the subject. I have concerns about X-23 being allowed to stay here."

Logan sighed and set his cheesecake, still wrapped, down on the counter. "How many times do I have to tell you, it's _Laura_. Laura Kinney. Unless you want me to get people to start calling you 'White Queen' all the time."

Frost's eyes narrowed further. "You wouldn't dare."

Logan's smile was all about self confident self-indulgence. "Wouldn't I?"

Frost looked ready to stamp her foot in impatient frustration. _Logan - 2, Emma Frost (White Queen!) - 1. That's better. _"Damn it, Wolverine, stop trying to change the subject. What are we going to do about the girl?"

"What would you like to do?" Logan responded, opening a drawer next to the refrigerator and pulling out a fork. He looked at it closely, sniffed, then tossed it in the sink. "I hate it when Bobby does the dishes. Course the guy whose frozen wouldn't think to pay close enough attention for the guys with advanced senses of smell." He looked around at Frost, who was looking expectantly at him. "Look, I got it under control, okay? Laura's a special case. Even more so than the other student,s and we both know that's saying something. Yeah, she's got kinda a dark past, but there's enough dark pasts under this roof to turn out all the lights in New York. She _wants_ to be Laura Kinney, she just needs help getting there. If she's here, we can help her - _I_ can help her. If we kick her out, then she has to figure it out all by herself, in the middle of a cruel world that'll use her for her talents, or her body, or both, just like before." He picked another fork and, satisfied that the number of germs clinging to it was below his threshold to consider it clean, started unwrapping the plastic wrap covering his cheesecake. He forked up a mouthful and started chewing, the creamy, sweet treat enhanced by his enhanced senses. He spoke again through his mouthful of cheesecake. "To be clear, that ain't happenin'."

Frost drew herself up ramrod straight. "You are not the headmaster of this school."

Logan shook his head. "Neither are you. You and Summers are 'co-headmasters.' And he said Laura stays. If you say she goes, you need a tiebreaker, and I'm mighty good at breaking things, so I say she stays. End of conversation."

Frost shook her head, seething at Logan's feigned indifference. "This isn't the time to be letting a trained killer into our midst."

Logan sliced off another forkful of cheesecake and passed it to his mouth. "Nah, it's time to piss a trained killer off and then toss her back out into the world so she can be used, likely against us, by evil people. I forgot I saw that on my page-a-day calendar this morning." Frost opened her mouth to respond, but Wolverine was getting fed up. "Would you quit it? Laura's my problem. I'm handling it, the best way possible: slowly. But that bein' said, Laura is not a problem, I've got the situation completely under control. Can I please enjoy my cheesecake now?"

Before she could respond, both Frost and Logan heard a large thumping noise come from the floor above them. Both paled slightly and bolted for the stairs, another Purifier attack on their brains.

( X )

"Careful!" Julian Keller hissed, eying the lamp that lay in pieces next to his bed, victim of the fist of the girl splayed out in front of him on his bed. "If you keep thrashing around like that we're gonna get _caught_."

A pair of emerald green eyes - _the prettiest thing I've seen since the first time I saw my own telekinesis - nah, prettier than that_ \- turned to meet his. Their beauty wasn't the only thing off-putting about them; despite the intimate situation in which Laura Kinney was at that time engaged, they retained a slightly far-off look. Granted it was far less prominent than when Julian had first met Laura, but not by enough to be completely gone. Part of Julian wondered where Laura was inside her own head half the time; but part of him really, really didn't want to know. "I am sorry, Julian. I thought that motions indicating extreme pleasure would in turn bring you pleasure."

Julian sighed and picked himself up off Laura's prone form. He took stock of the situation - he was down to his boxers, Laura herself was missing all of her clothing below the waist and her tank top hung far enough askew to not be covering any of her bra. Her feet were propped up, leaving her legs hanging open in a way that made Julian's head swim.

He had to remind himself three times that he wasn't a virgin before he was able to speak again. "It does. Bring me, you know, pleasure. What _doesn't_ bring me pleasure is the idea of Wolverine slashing his way through the door while we're in the middle of this, only to then slash his way through _me_. See where that might be a problem for me?"

"Yes," Laura said, nodding, her tone entirely even. "You find it difficult to focus on pleasurable sexual activity while imagining combat and/or torture."

"You don't?" Julian asked, then instantly regretted it.

Still laying in exactly the same position - Laura rarely chose to move without a specific reason for doing so and seemed to have no concept of physical comfort - she continued. "I do not, no. While you have been stimulating me with your fingers, I've reviewed in my mind my last two combat training simulations. Plus, I have considered contingencies for a variety of violent intrusions on our copulation. I believe that should anyone attack us while we are performing sexual acts on each other, I will still be able to respond with 98% efficiency to defend us." She cocked her head at him. "I wish you would not stop."

Despite the barest hint of a seductive undertone in the last sentence, Julian couldn't help but dwell on the rest. "Jesus, Laura, you're thinking about all that when I finger you? Do you think about all that when we have sex?"

She cocked her head again, her expression changing to one of confusion. "The act you were just performing is considered a sexual act in most parts of the world, with only a few remote regions considering it otherwise; so I do not see how we were not just "having sex," so to speak. If you're referring to penetrative intercourse, I would remind you that we have only done so on one occasion before this. You should not consider data regarding only one occurrence to be indicative of a trend."

Julian put his hands on his hips, the frustration he felt managing to block out some of the raging hormones he felt at Laura's provocative posture. "Is that your way of saying 'yes,' then?"

Laura's confused expression slowly melted into one of worry, a look which Julian had seen there all too often. _And now I'm the cause of it. Great. How do I always wind up as such a heel?_ "I am always thinking these things, Julian. It is - it is how I was made, and how I must be in order to feel safe."

_Mood-killer. Oh well, guess we need to have this conversation_. To help keep his mind off of sex (or rather his throbbing, straining desire to have it), Julian crossed his room back to his bed, nudged Laura's feet so they fell off the side and she sat up, and sat down next to her. "Don't you ever wonder what it'd be like to let that stuff go for a little while? Really relax and let loose?"

Laura stared him right in the eye, unblinking, unphased. "No. I do not. These are things that have been ingrained since I was born, Julian. You might just as easily ask someone if they have ever considered not breathing."

Julian took Laura's hand. His ego swelled to find it covered in a thin film of sweat, just as his ego had bloomed minutes before at finding the physical evidence of Laura's sexual arousal. Now, though, he needed the physical intimacy to indicate to her that he was saying things to her as a caring friend, not just as a horny teenage boy. "It's not the same thing," he said, as gently as possible. _I need to talk to Cessily about the whole "sensitivity" thing. Apparently I'm still not so good at it._ "You have to breathe to survive because, well, that's biology, just like having skin is biology or our powers are biology. The stuff that goes on in your head is there because that _place_ \- " despite knowing the name of the Facility, Julian, like all of Laura's newer friends, declined from using its name around her, in an effort to keep from upsetting her - "put it there. If someone put it there, someone can take it out again."

Laura's gaze didn't waiver a centimeter, and yet, Julian could have sworn he saw hope in her eyes. "Like Ms. Frost?"

"Probably not Ms. Frost," Julian replied. "She tried already and announced it'd be futile. She doesn't say something isn't doable if it's doable. Psychics aren't the way to go - you need healthy, natural stuff."

The hope was still there. "So like you, then?"

Julian gave Laura's hand a squeeze. As much as he wanted to be the white knight (_or the conquering hero, she's still not wearing pants agh why is life so hard_ _agh again why'd I have to think of the word "hard"_) the part of him that had grown up by watching his friends lose their powers and subsequently leave or die knew that it wasn't up to him to save the day. "Like _you_," he said. "If you try at it, you'll accomplish your goals. You kinda don't strike me as the failing type, Laura."

She shook her head, the sadness creeping back into her eyes. "I do not know what to try."

Ignoring the flood of suggestions for things she could "try" that barraged Julian's brain, he again managed to respond well. "Don't."

Laura looked up again, confused. "What?"

"Don't," Julian repeated. "You said, 'I do not know what to try.' Try saying 'don't' instead."

She still looked confused. "What will this accomplish?"

Julian shrugged. "I dunno. Try it. It's something different, right?"

Laura looked back at him for a moment. "I don't know what to try," she said, finally, stretching her mouth a little around the contraction. She stopped to consider after getting the sentence out, but then looked back at Julian. "I do not believe that has effected any quantifiable or qualifiable change in me."

Julian couldn't help rolling his eyes. "You're not going to be a completely different person _overnight_. Hell, it took me years to work up the amount of maturity it took just to have this conversation. Especially with you sitting there half naked."

Laura eyed the bulge in Julian's boxers and Julian felt himself twitch involuntarily. "Come to think of it, I did feel some desire to focus more on the sensations of copulation than on potentials for combat the last time we copulated. Perhaps this would be a more effective means of changing who I am?"

_I must have been a good boy all last year because God and/or Santa Claus has come through. Either that or karma's making up for everything._ "I am _so_ willing to find out."

Laura gave him a rare smile as he reached for her and she began to lean back again, when they both heard stomping boots and knocking sounds. Laura gently pushed him off of her and bolted upright, her claws sliding out with a soft _snikt_. Julian couldn't tell what was more disorienting - the sudden view of her ample, excellent posterior, the juxtaposition of _that_ image with her deadly adamantium claws, or the approaching footsteps. "It is too far past curfew for anyone to be walking around, and if they are attempting to sneak out, their stealth is terrible. And I believe they are knocking on doors. Something is wrong."

Julian also rose to stand next to Laura. "Can you make out what they're saying?"

Laura squinted. "Something about hearing a crash and checking on everyone."

Julian paled, his eyes roving back to the shattered lamp. Before he could look back at Laura, a knock came at the door. "Julian, this is Ms. Frost. Please open the door. We believe something may be amiss on this floor."

Julian panicked. Casting around the room, the only refuge he could see was the bed. "Quick! Hide under the sheets!" he hissed at Laura, who dove for the bed. In the heat of the moment forgetting his powers, Julian dove too, trying to grab as many sheets and blankets and cover Laura as completely as possible as fast as possible.

Ms. Frost's voice came back, even more urgent. "Mr. Keller, open this door at once, if you are able."

Julian tucked away the last of Laura's hair under the blanket, in time to hear something which made the remaining blood he had in his body drain away and evaporate. The gruff voice of Wolverine. "Stand back, Emma."

A second later, before Julian could think of something to yell through the door to Ms. Frost and Wolverine (_should have said something the first time, damn it I am so going to die in like a minute_), his door exploded forward to admit Wolverine, who'd clearly charged it and shoulder-blocked it open. Wolverine's claws were out. Julian tried as hard as possible to not look at them, instead standing ramrod straight and smiling.

Ms. Frost followed Wolverine into the room. "Julian, why did you not answer when I asked you to open the door?'

"I was exercising and I knocked over the lamp," Julian blurted. Realizing a second later that he technically hadn't answered her question, he continued. "Uh, I guess I was, you know, really into my exercising and didn't hear you knock."

Both Wolverine and Ms. Frost looked down Julian's body to his crotch. With a flood of heat to his face - and a slight tingling sensation, the flush was replacing the blood in his face that had drained away a moment before - Julian realized that he was still aroused. Visibly.

Wolverine snorted. "Exercising. Right."

Ms. Frost looked torn between extreme annoyance and extreme amusement. "Mr. Keller, while we all respect your privacy and your right to, ahem, _exercise_ in the privacy of your room, you must recall that the whole mansion is on high alert after the recent Purifier attacks. Sudden loud crashes in the middle of the night should be reported to the psychic on duty so they may relay to the rest of the faculty, staff, and students who may have heard that it was just an accident and nothing is wrong. We were quite clear on this point at the assembly last week."

Julian felt like his face was on fire. _Maybe my powers are mutating_. _Super-embarrassment._ A large part of Julian wanted to contradict what Wolverine and Ms. Frost were obviously assuming about the situation, because it wounded his ego to have _anyone_ think he would do that to himself when there were girls _tripping_ over themselves (or so he told himself) to do it for him. His survival instincts, thankfully, had sharpened to the point where he realized doing so could be a fatal mistake. "Thank you, Ms. Frost," he managed to choke out.

Shaking her head, Ms. Frost went to put her hand to her head, presumably to send a telepathic message to the rest of the students and staff they'd already awoken telling them to stand down, when she stopped and cocked her head to look around Julian's bed. "Julian...what...?"

Julian followed her gaze and felt the blood rush straight out of his face again, his entirely body reflecting a sudden chill. Ms. Frost was staring at Laura's discarded, lacy black panties. Slowly, feeling like his bones were grinding together with every inch of movement, Julian turned back to Ms. Frost. She wore a severe expression. "Would you care to explain _this_ development, Mr. Keller?"

Julian's mind flew in a million directions at once. He knew that if Ms. Frost was probing his mind at that moment she wouldn't have gotten a clear picture of anything specific but would have been able to tell he was trying to concoct a lie. Hell, anyone looking at his face could probably tell he was trying to concoct a lie. Unbidden, a clear voice sounded in his shattered consciousness. _If you can't be convincing, be embarrassing. Maybe it'll make them go away._

Julian closed his eyes. No way word of this wouldn't get out and he'd be branded for life. _Better branded for life than having my life end right now. And I don't even want to _think_ about what he'll do to Laura._ "They're mine," he said, gritting his teeth now as well. "I bought them. You know, for, uh, help. You know, _help_."

A second of silence later, Julian peeked through one eye to find both Ms. Frost and Wolverine staring at him in utter disbelief. He tried for a sheepish grin, hoping they'd just accept his complete social suicide and leave him in peace. No such luck. Ms. Frost shook the cobwebs out and spoke, although she still looked flabbergasted at Julian's words. "A nice try, Mr. Keller, but I can sense that another person is in this room, hiding under your bedclothes. I can't read her mind, but I can tell she's there."

Wolverine grinned. "Way to go, kid!"

Ms. Frost's outraged face returned and she turned on Wolverine. "Logan! You are a senior staff member _at a school_! This is not behavior you encourage!"

Wolverine grinned at Ms. Frost. "Oh, get stuffed, ya old hen. They're just having a little fun. Who's the mystery girl, Keller? Surge? Pixie?" Then his eyes narrowed. He looked back at Frost. "Wait a minute. Who in the mansion can you _not_ read, besides...me..."

He sniffed at the air and then strode forward. Julian hung his head as Wolverine threw back the covers of Julian's bed to find Laura curled up in a fetal position, that same slightly far-off but otherwise unconcerned look on her face. "Hello."

( X )

Logan saw red. Keller's back was to him from where he was standing in relation to the boy's bed, and he may have turned his claws on the kid had it not been for a diamond hand landing firmly on his arm. _Do not harm the boy, Logan_, he heard in his head. _We must take _appropriate_ action given the circumstances._

"Appropriate action my ass! This punk's sleeping with my _sister_!"

_Your sister whose claws are now out as well and who is poised to keep you from touching the boy, if you'll care to look down._

Slowly, his breathing evening out, Wolverine looked down, to find that Frost was right; while he'd moved to skewer Keller through the back, Laura had moved to intercept him. If he moved towards Keller he'd be moving onto Laura's claws.

"I think perhaps we should all try to calm down," Frost said, her voice projecting calmness despite the heightened tensions. "Logan, Laura, why don't you both retract your claws? I don't think anyone's interests will be served tonight by getting cut to pieces."

"Him first." Laura's response was tighter, less friendly and mild than her usual words.

"You don't tell _me_ what to do, pint-size." Wolverine eyed Laura. She was still partially covered by Keller's bedclothes, but had twisted around so that she was laying across the bed at just the right angle to put herself between the two males.

"And yet I'd say she has a point, Logan. You are the one who initiated hostilities. You should be the first one to back down. It's only fair."

A second of controlled breathing later, Wolverine's claws retracted back into his arms. He straightened up as Laura's did the same, and took a step back from Keller. "Damn you, Frost," he muttered. "Fine, what do we do with 'em?"

Frost addressed him directly with her response. "We discipline them." She turned back to Laura and Julian, the former sitting on the bed in the same position and eying Wolverine warily, the latter still hanging with his head hung, albeit every muscle in his body tense. "Kids, we're going to step out and let both of you get dressed. If you are not fully dressed and out of this room in two minutes, we'll come back in - and I will make Mr. Keller think that he is a chimpanzee for the next month, and Mr. Logan will find a way to more severely discipline X-23. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Ms. Frost," both teenagers muttered.

"Excellent. Logan, if you please, let's allow them the chance to get decent."

Grudgingly, Logan followed Ms. Frost out of the door, which Wolverine raised back onto its hinges. A crowd of students had gathered outside, most of whom didn't even bother to try and make it look like they hadn't been eavesdropping. After issuing a telepathic command to them to get back to their rooms, Frost turned back to Wolverine. _We should communicate like this to avoid X-23 overhearing._

_Laura_, Wolverine thought back at Frost. _What are you thinkin' we should do? It's not like Chuck ever put me in charge of handing out punishments to misbehavin' kids. I'm a little outta my depth here._

_As evidenced by your move to murder one of our students. Yes, yes, you wouldn't have actually killed him, I know, you don't need to defend yourself_, Frost continued, as she felt the outrage at the suggestion that he'd murder a student, even for a really, really good reason, well up inside Wolverine's head, to the point where she could feel it despite his psychic shields. _I think we should separate them and discuss what their intentions are for each other. I'll take X-23 - Laura, if you must - and you take Mr. Keller._

_What? Why?_

Frost sighed and glanced at the mostly-ruined door. Wolverine followed her gaze. Rustling sounds from within told him they only had a moment before Julian and Laura would emerge. _I do not trust your Laura. You do not trust Hellion. If we are to decide what to do in regard to this transgression, we both must come to mutual understandings with the pupils we do not like._

_Fine, fine_, Wolverine thought back to her.

_One last thing. I don't fully trust _you_, either. Scott will accompany you when you have your talk with Hellion. I have already called for him._

_Great. More fun with Summers the Joyless._

_I heard that too, you know._

_ Yeah, 'cause it was on purpose_.

A second later, Laura and Julian - both wearing jeans, him in a white t-shirt, her in a tank top, both wearing black sneakers - emerged through the ruined tatters of Julian's door. Wolverine glanced up and down the corridor. It was clear. _Which don't mean shit in a school with a half dozen people with super-hearing and a half dozen telepaths. _"Children," Frost greeted, alternating an icy stare of disapproval at Laura and Julian. "Logan and I will be speaking to you separately regarding your transgression. As in, he will be speaking with you, Mr. Keller, and I will be speaking with Ms. Kinney."

"What?" Keller looked back and forth between Wolverine and Frost, outraged himself. "He just tried to _kill_ me! What's wrong with you, putting him in a room with me where he can finish the job?"

Frost's voice was sharper than the crack of a whip. "First of all, you will never address me in that tone of voice again. Second of all, Logan is a staff member of this school and will be treated with _respect_. Third of all, Logan was not going to _kill_ you - he was understandably upset but at no point did I feel that your life was actually in any danger, and you shouldn't feel that it was, either. And fourth of all, given your circumstances, you are _hardly_ in a place to complain." She took a deep breath, eying Laura. Wolverine could sense that, at the announcement of who would be going with who, Laura's muscles had all tensed. _Cause she's protective of the boy, not 'cause she doesn't want to face Emma. Sheesh, this has already gone _way_ too far. _"If it will make you feel better, Cyclops will be present with Logan and Julian."

Keller eyed Frost, plucking up his courage. "And who's going to mediate between you and Laura?"

Frost's eyes narrowed. For a second, she seemed to forget to be angry at Julian's continued irreverent tone, analyzing his words. "I beg your pardon?"

Keller put his hands on his hips, looking stern at Frost. "It's not exactly a secret that you don't like Laura. I - I appreciate you having Cyclops sit in with me and Mr. Logan." The boy glanced nervously at Wolverine, who kept his face completely impassive. _He's stickin' up for her? That's not Hellion's style._ "But I think someone needs to sit in with you and Laura, too."

"I really do not see the need - "

"Wake Kitty up," Logan interrupted. "She'll keep things, uh, _objective_."

Frost spared a withering glance at Wolverine, no doubt less than thrilled at picking Frost's least favorite staff member (and one of Wolverine's favorites, no less). "_Fine_. If it will make you more _comfortable._ Kitty Pryde is on her way. Shall we disburse?"

( X )

Ms. Frost sat down behind her desk and indicated to X-23 to sit down across from her. The clone glanced around Frost's posh but business-like office before sitting. "Ms. Pryde is not here."

Frost couldn't help but sneer at the title. "No, Ms. Pryde isn't here."

X-23 cocked her head at the headmistress. "You lied. You were able to lie without a single physical indicator. Logan and I both would have picked up on it if there'd been something." Laura's head settled back into her usual straight posture. "Your capacity for subterfuge is impressive."

Frost had been growing increasingly uncomfortable at X-23's thorough analysis of the older woman's ability to lie without giving anything away. The last sentence brought her back to the task at hand. _If I play my cards right I may be rid of the little clone tonight_. "You find subterfuge impressive?"

X-23 nodded, her response level and, seemingly, honest. "Yes. I was trained in stealth and infiltration, but my ability to lie without any physical tells was not proficient, and seeing as my template, Wolverine, did not possess such an ability either, the Facility did not deem it necessary to train me further on the matter."

"So you are willing to admit it?" Frost asked, a tinge of disbelief in her voice.

"I just pointed out that I am not skilled at lying."

"Yes, I supposed you did," Frost replied, playing with a pen on her desk. _The girl is so frank, _she thought. _Discussing anything with her is almost exactly like reading a person's mind - except I have no super-developed sense of sound or smell to tell if she's lying. It's like this girl was made specifically to frustrate me._ "I will get right to the point with you, X-23. What are your intentions for Mr. Keller?"

At the sound of her codename, Frost was able to observe the clone go slightly rigid. She still responded, though. "I have no specific intentions for Julian."

Frost rolled her eyes. "Then what were you doing with him?"

X-23's gaze and voice were still perfectly level. "Sex," she replied, simply.

"You have worked as a prostitute before." When X-23 nodded, Frost continued. "Is Mr. Keller paying you for your _services_?"

The younger girl shook her head. "No. When I met Julian, it was clear immediately that he found me sexually attractive. I was - surprised, to find that I reciprocated the feeling. I had never felt attraction for anyone, especially not my 'customers.' I wanted to explore the sensation."

Frost leaned forward. "So this was _just_ about the sex?"

X-23 went to answer, but then stopped, faltering for the first time. Frost examined her closely as lines of confusion and worry crossed her face. _What is going on in there? Oh, psychic shields be damned straight to hell. _"I do not know," X-23 admitted. "I feel as though I would have thought so an hour ago, but now when you ask me the question - I do not understand it, but I feel something different."

Frost leaned back in her chair, giving up on studying the clone closely to find clues in her body language as to what was going on in her mind. There simply were none. "How would you characterize this 'something different'?"

The clone looked downright troubled. "It is disconcertingly strong. I go to say that the relationship I have with Julian is only about sex, but I feel revolted - not at the idea of the sex, which has been surprisingly pleasant, but at the idea of saying that my relationship with Julian is only about the sex." She cocked her head at Frost. "Is this because he is my friend?"

_Is she seriously asking me for advice right now? The nerve. Damn it, I like nerve. _"Perhaps," she replied. "Listen, X-23, I am going to ask you this straight out: how can I trust you?"

The clone tensed again at the sound of her codename, although not as much as the first time Frost had used it. "Why do you insist on referring to me by that name? I have requested to be referred to as Laura."

Frost sighed. _It's not like an artificial mutant would understand this. _"Our codenames are defining characteristics of who we are as people. They're much more defining than our, as the humans call them, 'real names.' Avoiding X-23 is about avoiding who you really are."

She shook her head. "Most mutants choose their codenames, yes?" When Frost nodded, X-23 continued. "I did not choose to be X-23 - both in the sense that I did not choose the designation, which is cold and reduces me to a statistic, and the sense that I did not choose to be what X-23 represented - a cold assassin."

Frost mulled those words over. "From what I understand, you did not _choose_ the name "Laura Kinney" either. It was given to you by your human mother."

"Correct." The clone flipped her hair over her shoulder. She still had a bit of sweat clinging to her skin from her earlier encounter with Hellion. "Until my mother told me that my name was Laura, "Laura Kinney" didn't exist. The only identity I had was X-23, as much as I did not want to be X-23. "Laura Kinney" wasn't a real person yet, even after my mother gave me the name. I have chosen to be Laura Kinney because I do not identify with X-23." She cocked her head again. "In a sense, Laura Kinney is my "codename." I have chosen it."

Frost folded her hands. "We choose our codenames when we're _ready_, Laura. Hellion, for example, underwent much training before deciding to take on that codename - as a reflection of his often-brash personality, but also to honor me, his loyalty to other mutants, even those he has not met, his dedication to remembering fallen comrades and his oath to save more from sharing the fate of my former students."  
The clone shook her head. "Julian is Hellion, but he is also still Julian, and he is okay with that. Mutants are not humans, but neither are they completely separate from humans, and turning their backs on the human side of their heritage would only encourage the sort of discrimination your institute wishes to eliminate. On the other hand, I am Laura Kinney, but I have no desire to be X-23 anymore, and I gain nothing by continuing the association. Maybe I am not ready to be Laura Kinney - I do not understand the nature of the feelings I possess for Julian, for example - but I cannot be X-23 any longer."

Frost again took a moment to mull over the clone's words. "I don't know if I can trust you, without being able to see into your mind."

"Julian does."

Frost laughed. "Julian is a wonderful boy - charismatic, talented, and _very_ powerful. He's still learning, though, and at the end of the day, he's still a teenage boy, and you're a pretty girl who, if you don't mind my saying so, seems to have zero inhibitions when it comes to sexual desire."

"I do not mind you saying so," the clone replied. "His hormones are difficult for him sometimes. Tonight when we were talking, I believe my lack of clothing on the lower half of my body and the position of my legs were quite distracting for him."

Frost raised an eyebrow. "Whatever were you having a conversation for while half naked?"

"It started when I broke the lamp, but I think it was about what we are discussing now. Me being someone other than who I was. Me being who I want to be. Whoever that is."

Frost found her eyes narrowing again. "And what did Julian have to say on the subject?"

X-23 frowned as well. "He tried to get me to say "don't" instead of "do not." When I did, and told him that I felt no different and was troubled at the notion, he told me that I would not change completely overnight. We were about to re-engage our coupling when you and Logan arrived. The rest you know."

Seeing her opening, Frost pounced. "It won't happen overnight. It could take months, years even. What will you do when Hellion inevitably loses interest in waiting for you to become something other than a toy he can play with? Do you think he'll wait years for you to become a girl he can have a real relationship with?"

X-23 shook her head. "I do not know. I hope that if there is any part of our relationship that he finds unsatisfactory that he will tell me and we can, as Logan says, 'talk it out.' And I know nothing of years from now. I know that now he likes me, and I believe I like him, and I wish to see where that leads." All of a sudden, the clone's face brightened. "I do not have a plan."

Frost's face betrayed her confusion. "And that excites you?"

"Yes," the clone responded, nodding vigorously. "At the Facility, one of the prime directives was to always have a plan. I spend all of my time analyzing situations and planning for contingencies - there are seven ways I could escape this office without you being able to alert the rest of the staff, four of which do not involve you being injured, all of which I've devised since we sat down - but I never stopped to consider my overall plan. I have none. _I am a different person from who they made me to be_." For a moment, the clone - _Laura_, Frost thought, begrudgingly - just looked around her office in wonder. Then her gaze refocused on the headmistress. "When can I tell Julian?"

( X )

Julian, meanwhile, was sitting opposite Wolverine. In an interrogation room next to the holding cells - uncomfortable metal chairs, shiny metal table, and reflective window to the side and everything. _Jesus, what kind of school has holding cells? Why did I ever think any of this was a good idea?_ His only comfort was the presence of Cyclops, leaning against the wall behind Wolverine. _But of course there's no way to look into his eyes and tell what he thinks of this whole thing, so who knows how this plays out?_

"So, kid," Wolverine started. "You're banging my sister."

Julian felt the blood draining from his face again. _That can't be a good start_. "Uh. I guess so. Sir."

"Ya guess so? What, you weren't there for it? Does yer cock just detach itself and go pork her on its own?"

"Logan," Cyclops warned.

"Go see your optometrist, Summers. This kid's messing with my family. The gloves are off."

_Definitely not good. I only actually got to have sex with her once!_

Cyclops pushed off the wall and crossed over to sit next to Wolverine. The headmaster's closer proximity was undeniably calming to Julian. _Just in case Wolverine makes a move._ Cyclops was looking at him, though. "You're assuming that Julian was 'messing' with Laura to start with. Julian, are you using Laura for sex?"

"No!" Julian responded. "Look, I may be kinda a jerk sometimes, but I'm a gentleman. Uh, mostly. I wouldn't use a girl for sex, ever. Period."

Wolverine rolled his eyes. "Right, 'cause you're so likely to tell the truth right now if the truth is, 'yeah, I was totally using her for her body and I'm going to dump her and have a good laugh over it with my friends tomorrow.' Give me a break, Summers, it's not like asking him questions like that are going to help."

Cyclops folded his arms, shooting Wolverine a glance which, coupled with his body language, read as annoyance. _Huh. He 'shot' a glance. This is probably the worst timing ever to be making puns._ "Fine," Cyclops said, and turned back to Julian. "Julian, whose idea was it to have sex?"

"Hers, actually." When Wolverine snorted, Julian continued. "She came up to me after Danger Room session a couple weeks ago and just said, "You are physically attracted to me. I can tell from the smell of the pheromones you emit in my presence, the elevation of your heart rate and development of perspiration, and the frequency with which you visually examine my erogenous zones when you think I am not looking. I have not had sexual relations in two and a half months. Do you wish to copulate with me?" So we did. We didn't talk about it again until earlier today - it's been crazy around here with all the extra training to resist Purifier attacks if they show up again - and we decided to mess around again tonight."

Cyclops looked amused. "You memorized all that?"

The slight edge of disbelief in his voice annoyed Julian worse. "If you were seventeen and you hadn't gotten laid in twice as long as what she was saying, and a pretty girl said that to _you_ right after a lot of sweaty workout violence, wouldn't _you_ memorize it?" When Wolverine snorted again, still in disbelief, Julian felt himself lose hold on his temper. "I'm sorry, maybe I should only direct that comment at the person in the room who actually remembers being seventeen."

Wolverine's eyes narrowed at the insult. Cyclops put a hand on Wolverine's shoulder, keeping the clawed mutant from rising from his chair to attack Julian. Cyclops' comment was sharp and directed at the teen. "Don't dig your own grave here, Julian."

He hung his head. "I'm sorry, professor."

Wolverine's eyes were still narrowed. "You're not sorry, kid," he said. "I got senses that can tell when a person's heart skips just the slightest, when their pores flare up, when they hesitate for the barest half seconds. Natural lie detector. I can tell you're not sorry."

Julian sighed. _Oh, well. Nice knowing you, Laura._ "You're right, I'm not sorry." He looked between the two senior X-Men. "I don't see what we were doing as wrong at all. Laura is - she's _special_. She's trying to build something of herself when all the rest of us are either trying to rebuild what's left or else protect the last things we have left. She's - I don't know, she's _better_ than the rest of us, and when I'm with her I feel like a little of that betterness rubs off on me. And I think maybe I can build something new of myself, or at the very least I can help her build something of herself, because that'd be something really _worth it_ to do."

"And what's that got to do with having sex with her?" Wolverine asked.

"I have _no _idea!" He sounded bewildered and exhilarated at the same time. "She likes it. I like it. I like her, and I think maybe she likes me. We're going with what feels good, trying to make the best of things as they come."

"Ugh. Bad pun, kid. Didn't need the visual that one's got tacked on it."

Julian felt his face flush. "Okay, point taken."

Wolverine leaned forward. "Look, kid, you're right about Laura being special. And you're right about her trying to make something of herself right now. Which is why this relationship is probably not a good idea - she's at a fragile stage and sex complicates things a lot, so maybe it's best for her not to be doing it right now."

Julian felt another wave of sarcasm overtaking his better sense. "So it'd be better to tell her to stop having sex right now? To tell her she should be afraid of wanting to have sex after everything she's been through?"

Wolverine's eyes narrowed again. "Everything she's been through?" he quoted. "What are you talkin' about, kid? Specifically?"

Julian let out a long breath. "New York. She told me." No one said anything for a moment; Wolverine was staring intently at Julian. Julian decided to break the silence. "Look, I don't know much about how peoples' minds work, and I know even less about how her mind works because she's the _weirdest_ girl I've ever known. So if you tell me I need to back off, I'll back off. I don't think it's right, but what do I know."

Wolverine sat back. "Fine. Back off." Julian looked pained. "Promise me, kid. You don't go near her anymore."

Slowly, Julian nodded. "Fine. I won't go near her anymore. Just - you know, tell her this wasn't my choice." Suddenly angry, he pushed himself back from the table and stood. "Can I go now? Isn't this punishment enough?"

"Hold on a sec, kid," Wolverine said, waving in a much more casual manner toward the chair than either Julian or Cyclops, judging by his expression, were expecting. "Got some other stuff to say. You can still see her."

Julian had taken hold of the chair angrily - he didn't want to stick around any longer with either X-Man - and a little bit of his green telekinetic aura had leaked out, crackling over its surface. When he heard the last sentence from Wolverine, though, some of the tension left him - due to confusion - and he dropped the rest of the way back into the chair. "What? I can?"

Wolverine tapped his ear. "Lie detector, remember? I had to see if you were willing to sacrifice for her. You were telling the truth when you said you'd trust us to come up with what's best for her, and you were telling the truth when you said you'd leave her alone since we were telling you to."

"Since _you_ were telling him to," Cyclops muttered.

"There's gonna have to be some ground rules," Wolverine said, ignoring Cyclops. "I know - I know Laura's past ain't sunshine and roses, even where matters of the heart are concerned. Or matters of the - well, you know. And if she's gettin' by all that, great, I'm happy for her, I really am. Here's the thing you gotta know. Laura was a prostitute, Julian, a street hooker. You ever known one of them? Personally, I mean."

"No!" Julian looked scandalized, but then reconsidered. _Maybe now's a good time to stop looking down on prostitutes. Since, you know, I'm dating one. Geez._ "I mean, no. Not really."

Wolverine nodded. "Okay. Well, thing is, they're taught, pretty much from day one, that sayin' 'no' ain't okay. She's probably still got that in her head."

Julian shook his head, not comprehending. "Okay?"

Wolverine rolled his eyes again. "Which means she might not be able to say 'no' to you if you do somethin' she doesn't like."

"Oh," Julian said. "Uh. Well." After a moment of searching his mind for the answer to how to handle the situation Wolverine brought up, Julian leaned forward. "So what do I do about that?"

"Talk to her. Hell, I'll be talkin' to her - a lot - but you need to, to. She maybe has some twisted up ideas of what sex is, and trust me, it'll be about a thousand times less awkward to figure out what those things are before you're doin' it than while."

"Then what?" Julian was practically entranced.

"Then - I don't know. That's up to you, I guess." Wolverine growled. "I'm not doin' it for you, kid."

As Julian blushed, Cyclops glanced between he and Wolverine. "Uh, Logan, we're not allowing students to have sex here, are we?"

Wolverine didn't look at the headmaster. "Special case, Cyke. We're all about those, right?"

"Yes, but...look, this behavior is inappropriate for teenagers." Cyclops shifted uneasily, not wanting to look at Hellion as he and Wolverine had this conversation.

"So's fightin' religious nuts and giant killer robots."

Cyclops shifted again. "We don't _encourage_ the students to do that, Wolverine."

"'Course not. But sometimes they gotta. This is kinda like that."

Cyclops went to respond, but no words came out and for a moment his mouth hung open as he considered. He glanced at Hellion, who looked back at him with a slight blush. _He's literally deciding the future of my sex life. Or he thinks he is. If _Wolverine_ is on board for Laura and I dating, I doubt that Mr. Summers will really be able to get in the way._ "Fine," he said, finally. "I'll have to talk to Emma, see what she has to say after talking to Laura. She's _not_ going to like this." Cyclops' gaze focused sharply on Julian. _Wish he wouldn't do that. Most guys can't literally kill with a look._ "And the fact that we'll be lenient on the rules for you and Laura does _not_ become public knowledge. That means no bragging, Mr. Keller."

"No, sir." Julian risked a glance at Wolverine to see how he was taking the idea of Julian bragging about his experiences with Laura. "I'm not that stupid, sir. I'm not sure if Laura or Mr. Logan would kill me first."

Cyclops sighed and pushed back from the table, standing up. "Can we at least agree on no killing?"

Wolverine gave him a lopsided grin. "No promises, bub."

( X )

Laura bounded into the common room in which Julian sat. Along with the usual range of tactical data - positions of openings to other rooms, relative strength of walls and which sections were load-bearing for the roof in the event that high damage combat were to ensue, which furniture implements could be used to deter bullets and which would just be cut apart immediately - she registered surprise on the boy's face at her exuberance. Laura felt her own stomach flutter at the sight of him. _That is the fourth time I have observed that sensation. Perhaps I will ask Dr. McCoy to run an exam on me tomorrow to determine if I am ill._

Julian recovered from his surprise as he stood and Laura hugged him tightly. "I'm guessing it went good with Ms. Frost?"

"Yes," Laura muttered into Julian's ear, enjoying the sensation of pressing her body against his. _Even with our clothes on I derive pleasure from this action. A part of it is sexual attraction, but most is a different kind of pleasure. I will have to explore this further._

Julian craned his neck around to see Ms. Frost follow Laura into the room. Gently, still slightly embarrassed at being publicly seen in a romantic situation by his advisor, Julian pushed Laura away, giving her a quick kiss on the side of her head as a means of telling her that he wasn't pushing her away because he didn't want to be in contact with her. Julian nodded his head, respectfully. "Ms. Frost."

She returned the courtesy. "Julian." Her tone was pleasant - the tone he associated with her attempts at being benevolent toward people. Frost cleared her throat, looking between Laura and Julian. "I do not particularly approve of this match. However, I find that I do not _disapprove_ of it either. I had thought that she was beneath you, Julian. I am now willing to entertain the notion that I was incorrect."

_That has to be the closest thing to an apology I've ever heard from her_, Julian thought, staring at his advisor in bewilderment.

Ms. Frost scowled at him. _I heard that._ She glanced between the two of them again. _Go. Have fun. Be safe. If one of the telekinetic professors hasn't taught you about contraceptive applications of your powers yet, I will make an appointment for you to have the talk tomorrow._

With that, she turned and walked away.

Julian followed her retreat from the room, but then frowned as he looked at the door that Laura and Frost had come out of. "Wait a minute. Where's Ms. Pryde?"

Laura moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. _She's being awfully affectionate_. "Ms. Pryde did not attend my conversation with Ms. Frost."

Julian's face darkened. "She lied when she said she was sending for her. How, grr, _typical_. I ought to - "

"Julian!" Laura said, grabbing his face gently and centering his gaze back on her eyes. _There are stars in her eyes._ "I can handle Ms. Frost." When Julian continued to frown, Laura scrambled for a way to bring the conversation back to where she wanted it to be. _Distract him. With a joke._ "Most males would point out the innuendo inherent in saying that I 'handled' Ms. Frost. Most would find the notion sexually arousing."

Julian finally stopped scowling to stare at Laura. "What?"

_He does not understand. _"I was making a joke. In the hopes that it might arouse you sexually and distract you from your displeasure over Ms. Frost's lie - which, I would like to point out, did nothing to harm me."

Julian shook his head. "I don't think of Ms. Frost that way."

Laura cocked her head. "Yes, that is true. While every other male student - with the exception of Anole, who I believe to prefer males - is sexually aroused by Ms. Frost, you never seem to be. Perhaps her position as surrogate mother to you has something to do with it."

Julian felt an eyebrow quirk. "A second ago you said you were trying to arouse me. This isn't how you do it."

Laura shook her head, taking the opportunity to draw their bodies closer. "I do not understand."

Julian observed the closing distance between them. "I think maybe you do," he said. When Laura stopped moving and remained silent, he sighed. "It's just - well, have you ever heard of a mood-killer, Laura?"

"I have killed many things. A 'mood' has never been one of them."

Julian chose to skim past the part about killing many things - _maybe she's still trying to make jokes, we'll have to work on that_ \- and focus on the rest. "Well, you kinda have. Earlier tonight, with all the stuff about combat and death and stuff, and just then with the stuff about me thinking of Ms. Frost as my mother. Those subjects aren't things that most people find arousing."

Laura shook her head. "They were not meant to be. The innuendo was meant to be."

"I know. But when you say one thing that's alluring, and one thing that's whatever the opposite of alluring is, you kill the mood."

"Because the one cancels the other out?"

"Because sex is about building toward something," Julian said, making it up as he went along. _Maybe I should buy one of those guidebook things for her? Christ, maybe I should buy one for myself._ "You do one thing your partner likes, then you do another thing your partner likes, and your partner does something you like, and you build on each other's, uh, actions. But if you say something that turns _off_ your partner, the momentum breaks down. You might be able to get right back into it, but you might also have to start over, or you might be done for the night."

Slowly, Laura nodded. "I think I understand."

Julian smiled. "Good. No more torture talk. And definitely no more talking about Ms. Frost." He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

They'd kissed - during their copulation two weeks previous. That had been a hurried, sloppy affair, made between bouts of heavy breathing and moaning on both of their parts. This kiss was different. It was slower, more methodical. Laura found herself studying the physical sensation in minute detail. Julian's lips were moist and soft and covered hers in near-perfect symmetry, and she felt a thrill go through her - and that same fluttering feeling in her stomach - as he gently sucked on her upper lip. Almost unbidden, her grip on his neck tightened and she pressed her face tighter against his. She felt as his hands also wound their way around her back, pushing up the thin fabric of her tank top.

When Julian pulled back, several years that were far too short later, Laura opened her eyes to find his glowing green. "Wow," he said.

"Yes," she agreed. "Wow."

FIN

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks for reading! I've wanted to write a Hellion/X-23 story for a long time, and after reading several excellent stories about them recently I figured I'd give it a shot. I have a few ideas for other pieces about them, too, if there's any interest.

Make sure to drop a review. Thanks again!


	2. Dinner Treats

Author's Note: Okay, so maybe labeling this story a "one-shot" was an example of me speaking too soon. Here's how I figure this is going to work - this is going to be a series of light one-shots without all the messy drama I've got planned for the Helix pairing for other stories. When will it get updated again? I don't know. Maybe never; this could well be it. Or maybe next weekend I'll be struck by another silly, fun Julian/Laura story. You'll just have to wait and see if you get another treat.

DINNER TREATS

All Logan had to hear from Hank over the comm was, "Please come to the sub level infirmary. It's Laura," for him to start sprinting through the mansion, pushing aside students and faculty alike. Since the mansion had become a veritable warzone some years ago, they'd opened a second medical bay, in the restricted sub levels that students weren't generally allowed into. It doubled as Hank's medical lab. It was also where the most serious injuries tended to be taken.

And it had to be pretty serious to require his sister, who had a healing factor, to have to be taken in.

A moment later, Logan came crashing through the infirmary door. His eyes widened. Hank was standing back, filling a syringe with a clear liquid. Laura was laid out on an examination table - covered in small, dark holes. A few little strips of cloth clung to her chest and groin, but they were so badly shredded that Logan couldn't recognize them.

"What the hell happened?" Logan demanded.

Hank looked up at him. "Danger Room," the blue furry man replied. "Safeties off." He glanced down at the syringe, which was full. He withdrew it from the bottle and tapped it, making sure the liquid would flow out smoothly once inserted into Laura's skin. "A little cocktail of adrenaline and electrolytes I developed to help speed up your healing factor." He looked back at Laura and then at Logan. "I don't think Laura's in any danger of dying, but I'm sure she'd be more comfortable if her body had some assistance in pushing out all the lead slugs."

As Hank bent and inserted the needle into Laura's arm, Logan crossed the room to stand by her side. He was relatively unsurprised to see her eyes open and tracking. "Can you hear me, half-pint?" he asked.

Laura's eyes swept to the side to focus on his. Even for Wolverine, who was used to shrugging off injuries that would kill just about anyone else, the way Laura looked so calm and unconcerned despite the dozens of holes in her body was just plain eerie. "Yes," she replied. "My hearing and cognitive functions remain undamaged."

"Good," Logan said, stroking her hair. Then he nodded at her bullet-ridden torso. "Just what in the hell were you doing?"

Laura closed her eyes. _Is that embarrassment? Didn't know she felt that sort of thing._ "I would rather not discuss this."

Logan frowned. "'An usually I'd be game for letting you keep it to yourself, but if the Danger Room's gone crazy - you know, _again_ \- then we need to know 'bout it."

Laura's eyes remained closed. "The Danger Room behaved exactly as it was instructed."

Logan's frown was joined by a look of bewildered confusion. He forgot Laura's request for privacy. "Then what in the hell were you doing?"

"There," Hank pulled back, then, absentmindedly, produced a blanket and covered Laura. "The ability to retain some of your body heat should help speed up your healing factor too, Laura."

Laura's eyes roved over to Beast. "Thank you, Dr. McCoy," she said. She glanced at Logan again and bit her lip. "Did you request that Julian join us, as I asked?"

Beast smiled kindly. "Of course, dear. He was out on a training exercise, but he should be back any minute." A half second later, the door the infirmary glowed green and was shoved violently to the side, and a young man with black hair flew through. He was flying with his body vertical instead of horizontal, and his legs were moving in a way that suggested that he thought he was walking and wasn't even aware of the fact that he was floating six inches off the floor. "I believe that may be him now," Beast finished, wryly.

"Laura?" Julian asked, his voice higher pitched than usual. "What the hell happened?!"

Logan repressed a snarl at his clone-sister's boyfriend. The two had been together - since the little incident with the lamp in the middle of the night - for about two weeks. As promised, Logan had had his discussion with Laura regarding ways to set appropriate boundaries with Julian. Every time he'd started to suggest that it was okay for her to say 'no' to something the boy requested, Laura had insisted on bringing up an incredibly graphic example of a request he might make and whether it was appropriate or not for her to reject the offer. She'd also ignored him as he'd grimaced and told her that it was up to _her_ if she should reject it or not, but that she shouldn't be afraid to say 'no.' After the third example, he was pretty sure she was doing it on purpose. After the fourth example - something called a "Siamese Pony Ride" that even Logan hadn't heard of and wished he could forget - he'd given up and just told her to live her own life.

Privately, Hellion had told Logan that his own talk with Laura regarding boundaries in their relationship had gone much better, but Logan had his doubts about just how trustworthy a kid who picked the name "Hellion" would be on the subject.

"She don't wanna talk about it, kid," Logan growled.

Hellion came to a halt, the telekinetic aura receding. He dropped nimbly to his feet - _maybe he did know he was flying after all_ \- and walked the last two steps to stand beside Logan, looking down at Laura. Involuntarily, Logan sniffed the air - aside from the worry and fear that was pouring off Hellion, he could detect the not-so-subtle physical signs of Laura's excitement at seeing the boy. "Are you okay?" he asked, looking down at her.

She smiled. Before the advent of Julian and Laura's relationship, Logan couldn't remember ever seeing the girl smile; now it was something that happened once every couple of days. Just the day before, Logan had been pretty sure he'd seen a smile tugging at the corners of Laura's lips at a fight between Pixie and Anole over the latter mistakenly using the former's designer soap and getting 'lizard cooties' all over it, and that had been entirely sans-Hellion. Logan had to grudgingly admit the positive influence the boy was having on his clone.

He was still waiting for the whole thing to blow up and hoping that overall the experience would still have been a good one for Laura.

"I am okay, Julian," Laura responded. "My healing factor prevents almost all injuries from doing serious, permanent damage. I have been injured worse than this on more than seventy occasions. One involved having all of my limbs removed forcibly with a half inch scalpel, a process that took three hours - "

Julian held up his hand, his face turning green for a reason that had nothing to do with his powers. "Got it," he said. He glanced Logan, who was glowering, then back at Laura. "But seriously, what did this to you?"

Logan rolled his eyes. "Told you, kid, she don't wanna talk about it."

Laura glanced nervously between Julian and Logan, seeming to decide whether her next words would start a fight between her DNA original / brother / mentor and her boyfriend. "It was your suggestion, actually, Julian."

Julian's eyes widened. He again glanced nervously at Wolverine, who was now staring daggers at him. "What? What do you mean?"

"You suggested that I, like the rest of you, find a way to use my powers for things that are not combat-related," Laura continued. "And then, later, you suggested I also try sun-bathing, since it is an archetypal 'girly' thing to do and I have never experienced 'girliness.' You continued to suggest this even after I mentioned that my healing factor prevents tanning." Her eyes came to focus on Julian's, big and round and full of apprehension. "I thought I would combine the two."

Julian and Logan stood frozen for a moment. The two exchanged a look of disbelief - their animosity of a few seconds earlier forgotten - and then looked back at Laura. "Laura," Julian started, his voice strained. "Are you saying you went tanning _in the Danger Room?_"

"Yes," Laura said, looking between Logan and Julian.

Julian buried his face in his right hand, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. Logan's eyebrows had just about disappeared off his forehead. "Uh, half-pint?" he said, weakly. "Not yer best idea."

Laura lifted up the blanket covering her to look at the still-healing bullet holes in her body. "Perhaps not."

Julian looked up at Wolverine. "I _swear_ I didn't have anything even remotely like this in mind when I told her that."

Wolverine shook his head. "Don't worry, kid, I ain't blamin' you. Innovation o' this sort could only come from my clone." He looked down at Laura and groaned. "Suppose I don't blame you neither, for tryin' new stuff. Could we just agree that the Danger Room's off limits for anythin' that ain't training?"

Laura looked down at herself again. "I believe that would be wise. My body has so far expelled two point five kilograms of lead." She looked up at Julian. "Perhaps it is not in my best interest to attempt to use my powers recreationally."

Logan was beginning to nod when Julian looked up sharply. "What?" he asked.

"I said - "

"Nah, I heard what you said," he interrupted. Logan gritted his teeth. For a moment, Logan told himself that he _hated_ people without manners - all irony forgotten - mostly because the person without manners was the kid banging his little sister. "I just don't think it's a good idea for you to give up on it."

"'Cause this went so splendidly, right?" Logan asked, looking sideways at the dark-haired young man.

"No," Julian said, looking sideways at Logan, annoyed. "Because our powers are a huge part of who we are, and if Laura wants to stop thinking of herself as a weapon, she needs to stop thinking of her powers as weapons. Or, you know, _only_ as weapons."

Logan stopped. "You get that from Frost?"

Julian blushed. "No. I, uh, was reading some of the stuff Professor X wrote back when he was starting the school."

Logan scratched his head. "That fer a class?"

Julian's blush deepened. "No. I was just reading it, you know, for myself, okay? Geez, is it like your mission in life to embarrass me?"

Logan finally grinned. "No way, kid. You do that plenty good on your own." He glanced at Laura, who was watching both of them curiously. "What do you think, half-pint? Think there's a better way you could use my powers that don't involve killin'? Or, you know, getting shot full o' enough lead to put down the Russian Army while you're wearin' a bikini?"

"You know, we could...wait, bikini?" Julian's eyes glazed over.

Logan rolled his eyes. "Make sure to put yer tongue back in yer mouth when yer done droolin', Hellion."

Julian snapped out of it, the red tint never far from his cheeks. "Uh," he said, glancing at Logan, but then seemed to decide against addressing that point. "Well. Um, I was just going to say - it's my turn on kitchen duty tonight." He looked down into Laura's eyes. "Maybe you could, you know, help me out."

Dr. McCoy, who'd been studying something on a clipboard during the conversation, looked up. "Are you sure that's not just your desire to shirk your chores, Julian?"

Julian shook his head. "Everyone else gets a partner, the only reason I don't is that I can have as many hands as I want by myself." He looked at Beast, his eyes round and earnest. _Come ta think of it, he ain't been so annoyin' lately, either_, Logan thought, regarding Hellion's sincerity with skepticism. _Boy, I just can't wait for this relationship to fall apart. Better'n a soap opera._ "Come on, Dr. McCoy. Her claws have to be, like, twenty times better than Mr. Drake's ginsu set. And," he said, looking back at Laura and smiling, "whose a better taste-tester than a girl with enhanced senses? You want dinner to be edible, right?"

Dr. McCoy scratched at his chin and fixed Logan with his gaze. "The boy has a point," Beast said. "I've had nightmares about the taste of Surge's "lo mein" from last week."

Logan shivered. He'd actually eaten worms that had tasted better. "You got a point," he said, addressing the compliment at McCoy; it'd have been too weird to give Hellion a pat on the back. He also looked down at Laura, who was looking bemused with the whole thing. "Probably be a decent meal. There ain't anythin' you're particularly bad at, kiddo."

Laura cocked her head at him. "Except sunbathing."

( X )

A few hours later, Laura walked into the mansion's kitchen to find Julian already present, sitting on the counter and looking at the refrigerator with a far off expression. He looked up and smiled at her and Laura felt the now-familiar flush rise in her cheeks - accompanied shortly by a sensation between her legs that she'd come to understand was a physical indicator of sexual desire. A desire which had only grown over the last two weeks as, every time they'd been on the verge of copulation, Hellion had suddenly grown afraid - she could smell it on him - and backed out. Laura had confirmed with Wolverine that her mentor hadn't threatened Julian with physical harm should he pursue a physical relationship with her, but she'd been unable to ascertain what the source of his fear was.

Except that it was probably fear of her.

Shrugging the notion off, Laura looked around. The kitchen was clean. Nothing was out. "Julian? What are we going to prepare for dinner?"

Julian hopped down off the counter. Laura noted the almost complete lack of sound as his feet his the tiled kitchen floor - he subconsciously cushioned himself with his telekinesis whenever he jumped. She'd talked it over with him before a training session the week previous and he'd begun attempting to do so consciously when walking. The ability to walk without making a sound could be a valuable asset. "Tacos," Julian replied, decisively. "Used to have them all the time back at home. Best part is, all you have to do is prepare all the separate ingredients, then lay them out, and the people eating put their own together. So it's easy."

Laura frowned. "If it is easy, then you do not require my assistance."

Julian rolled his eyes and turned to the refrigerator. The door handle glowed green and swung open and food items began flying out. "I don't _need_ anyone's assistance," he said. "But I _want_ yours. And I meant what I said earlier. This stuff is good for you. Why not start with the tomatoes? Dice them up into half-inch cubes."

A bag with about a dozen round red tomatoes floated onto the counter next to where Laura was standing. Julian turned away to focus on the array of ingredients in front of him, turning on the stove with his mind. Laura continued watching his back, a troubled expression on her face. She'd cataloged the boy's many arrogant assertions. A careful analysis of them had so far yielded few results. Arrogance, she'd been taught, was a failing, a weakness to be exploited. And it was a weakness she had exploited, dozens of times. She probably wouldn't have been free of the Facility had it not been for their own arrogance. It was not a trait that Laura admired.

Laura looked back down at the tomatoes. Pulling one out, she extended one claw from her right hand. She waited a second for the exit cut to heal, then, picking up a towel, dabbed away the blood, to make sure it didn't get into the food. Not that Laura's blood would hurt anyone - Logan aside, she was guaranteed to have the cleanest blood of anyone on the planet. But, after Julian had suggested she help prepare dinner, she'd gone straight to the library and read a short book on food preparation that had told her that keeping bodily fluids out of the food was absolutely necessary.

Laura began slicing, almost absentmindedly; yet each little, squishy cube of tomato came out exactly to the specified dimensions. As she chopped she kept thinking. Julian had demonstrated his intelligence on multiple occasions, and yet he was arrogant, a serious failing. At first, she'd wondered if he was unaware of pitfalls of being arrogant, but then, despite not wanting it to, her mind had wandered back to Xander Rice, one of the men responsible for creating her. He, too, had been arrogant - one of the reasons he was dead - but, she had to grudgingly admit, he had been intelligent, too. Even her mother, who to Laura was the epitome of intelligent, had been arrogant, both in her creation of Laura to begin with and in her attempted escape.

A thought came to Laura, unbidden, and she stopped chopping. She turned to face Julian, who had sliced open a package of ground beef with his wind and was shaking it into a pan. "Julian," she said, quietly. "Do you think I am arrogant?"

Julian turned to look at her. "What makes you ask that?" he asked.

Laura looked down. "Many of the people in my life - many very intelligent people - were arrogant, despite being intelligent. I am confronted with the possibility that they were unaware of their own arrogance - and, by extension, that it is possible that I am unaware of my own."

Julian's brow knotted. "Is this about that little stunt in the Danger Room?"

Laura considered. "It was not, but perhaps that it is a good example. Was it not arrogant of me to go into the Danger Room with the safeties off?"

Julian tossed the meat in the pan with his mind. "Do you really think that thing could kill you?"

Laura shook her head. "Most people do not think the thing that eventually kills them can do so. I have...exploited that, many times in the past."

It was Julian's turn to grimace. "Yeah, I suppose you have a point about that." He stopped tossing the meat and turned to face Laura. "This really bothers you, doesn't it?" Laura nodded. Julian took a deep breath, thinking to himself for a moment. "Well, I guess everyone's a little arrogant. Or, like, there's a line between being sure of yourself - which is a good thing - and being arrogant, which is a bad thing. If you're too sure of yourself, then you're arrogant." Julian turned back to the meat and laughed. "I may have been accused of being arrogant once or twice. By people who didn't know better."

Laura also took a deep breath. "It concerns me that you believe you do not need anyone."

Julian again stopped tossing the meat around. Slowly, he turned back to face Laura. His face was impassive, but Laura's enhanced senses could hear his heartbeat rising, could smell the adrenaline flooding his system. He was getting angry. "_That's_ what this is about? _You_ think I'm arrogant?"

Laura looked down again. She did not wish for a confrontation over this, especially when, as with all the feeling she had in regard to Julian, she hadn't been able to work out all her feelings on the matter. "I said that I am concerned."

Julian's fist clenched. "So you think I'm arrogant. Geez, you of all people, Laura. I thought you got me."

Laura looked up. She felt her nostrils flare, her eyes flash. Now _she_ was getting angry, a response which she hadn't predicted. Words started coming out of her mouth before she'd had time to consider them carefully. "And I thought you 'got' me. Do you think you are the only person in the world who feels that they do not need anyone else?"

Julian blanched. "Uh..." he started.

"My training included long-term deep cover missions, with contingencies for how to survive entirely on my own for years at a time. I was well-prepared for taking care of myself without any assistance from anyone from when I was five years old." Laura swatted at the hair which had fallen into her face, forgetting for a second that one of her claws was out and scratching herself in the process. The scratch healed instantly, but not before it annoyed Laura further ."And do not forget as well - I grew up in the Facility. They were the only people I knew for most of my life, and the only person there whom I cared for, my mother, is now dead. Do you not wonder at the possibility that not only do I not need other people, but that I might not _want_ other people to help me?"

Julian was starting to look a little overwhelmed. "Look, Laura...I'm...I mean, I told you that I _want_ you, remember?"

Laura was positively staring daggers at him. "Yes, you _told_ me that."

Julian cocked his head, regaining a bit of his poise. "Now what's _that_ supposed to mean?"

Laura crossed her arms, retracting her single extended claw in the process. "We have not engaged in sexual activity of any kind since the night our copulation was discovered by Wolverine and Emma Frost," Laura said, bluntly. "Whenever a sexual situation begins to arise, your scent profile changes from one of excitement and arousal to one of fear, and back away. I have observed this on eight occasions over the past fourteen days. This is more than enough data to establish a pattern. You do not..._want_ me."

By the end of her speech, Laura felt another new sensation - a liquid was pooling in the cavities of her eye sockets. She reached up and felt at the dampness, momentarily disoriented. She knew what crying was. She'd done it herself, when she'd been younger, but the Facility had beaten the impulse out of her, to the point where they'd practically made her forget she'd ever done it in the first place. Since then, her only experiences with crying was observing other people do it. Most times because she'd caused them to.

Laura wiped the tears away and looked up again. Julian looked pained. "Laura...I..."

Laura shook her head. "I no longer wish to participate in cooking," she said, beginning to cross the room to the door. "This was a pointless exercise."

Julian stepped in front of Laura. "Hold on a minute," he said, holding a hand out.

Laura growled at him. His scent profile changed - there was the fear - but...Laura sniffed. Not nearly as much of it as when their relationship's physical side was about to rear its head. Laura's angry expression softened. "You are not afraid of me," she said, quietly, looking at the hand held out in front of her - a hand which she could sever practically without thinking about it, in its current position.

Julian's face flushed. "Maybe I'm a little afraid of you," he admitted.

Laura shook her head. "That is not what I mean," she said, looking up to meet his eyes. "You - when we...I mean, when we have been about to copulate, I have been able to smell fear on you. But you are not afraid of me harming you - or, at least, not as afraid of me harming you as you are of...whatever you are afraid of when we are about to copulate. I do not understand this."

Julian returned her gaze, and again, she could see pain there. "I...you used to be a prostitute."

Laura nodded. "We have discussed this." She felt insecurity well up inside of her. "You indicated that you were not upset with me over this. Have you changed your mind?"

The worry on Julian's face increased. "No!" he said. "No, that's not it. I don't...I mean, I'm not disgusted with you or whatever. I'm just afraid of...of hurting you."

Laura felt her confusion increase. "Julian, I have a healing factor. It would take a very concerted effort on your part to do enough damage to my body that I would not be able to recover from it. You would not be able to really harm me accidentally."

Julian took another deep breath, then took Laura by the shoulders. "That's not what I mean." His eyes were big and round. Laura could count the little flecks of gold in them. "I - I know we talked about you being a prostitute. And I know you had a conversation with Logan about...boundaries. And we talked about that too. The thing is, sometimes, it kind of sounds like you're not sure at all about what you're talking about, and that was one of those times, and I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to push on the sex thing - on any sex thing - and then find out afterward that you weren't into it. I care about you and I don't want to take a chance at hurting you."

Inexplicably, Laura felt the tears coming back. "But I'll heal."

Julian's hands traced over her shoulders and up her neck to cup her face. "That's not the point at all. You're so used to being used that I get worried that...that you think letting me use you - you know, for sex - is okay. You're doing so great, making your own choices, being your own person, that I don't want to take the chance of setting you back by pushing you into doing something for me that you really don't want."

The tears were falling. "You do not want to use me," Laura said, simply.

"Of course not," Julian replied, wiping at one of the tears. "Like I said, I care about you."

Laura fairly lunged forward, pushing her lips against Julian's. The boy had a moment to be surprised, to instinctively jerk back, before his muscles relaxed and he began reciprocating. His hands were still on Laura's face as they kissed, standing in the middle of the kitchen.

The kiss carried on for a minute, Laura pressing herself closer to him, a low growl starting in her throat. When she began to smell fear returning, she pulled back and pulled Julian's hands away from her face. "I am deciding this right now," she said, clearly and without hesitation. "I want this. I want you. Right now. And to be clear, I am not asking you to use me. I am asking you to make love with me."

For a second, several conflicting emotions passed over Julian's face. Then he plunged forward to kiss Laura back, his hands winding around her back, grasping at handfuls of her grey "Xavier's" sweatshirt. The force of his motion carried them backward, until Laura's back hit the counter where she'd been dicing tomatoes. She felt the slight tingling sensation that came from Julian's powers and then she was lifted up to sit on the counter. Julian's hands dragged lower, slipping under the hem of her sweatshirt to feel at the smooth skin of her back. Laura wrapped her legs around Julian's torso and inclined her head downward to meet Julian's, continuing the kiss they'd begun earlier.

After only a moment of this, Laura dropped her hands to the hems of her sweatshirt and peeled it up and off. At the same time, Julian removed his hands from her back and leaned back enough to be able to strip off the polo shirt he wore, tossing it aside with Laura's sweatshirt. He leaned in again to kiss her and Laura gasped against his mouth at the feeling of his naked torso against hers. Well, her mostly naked torso. Absentmindedly, she reached back and undid the clasps on her bra, letting the garment fall away onto the floor. She'd forgotten the effect that similar motions had had on Julian in the past and, on the revelation of her breasts, his pace accelerated noticeably and the smell of his sexual arousal doubled.

Laura filed the reaction away. She'd been trained in how to utilize her breasts as a distraction and/or a seduction tool by the Facility, training she'd doubted she'd ever need. Now she supposed it might be interesting to test out at some point.

Then Julian's head lowered to her now-exposed chest and his tongue shot out of his mouth and Laura stopped filing things away.

A few minutes and several more discarded articles of clothing later, the door to the kitchen opened, and a pale blue face entered. "Hey, thought I'd give you guys a hand with anything needing cooling - holy shit on a shingle!"

Julian stopped the thrusting motion he'd been making with his hips and looked over his shoulder, Laura following his gaze. Iceman was standing in the doorway, his now-perpetually frozen face in a state of shock. Presumably because Julian and Laura were both naked, Laura still seated on the edge of the counter, her left hand wound in Julian's hair, her right hand supporting her as she leaned back to allow Julian easier access, and Julian was still inside her.

Laura nodded to the senior X-Man. "Hello, Mr. Drake."

( X )

Laura and Julian sat outside the Headmaster's office. Both were fully clothed again. On the other side of the door, both of them could hear Cyclops, Wolverine, Emma Frost, Iceman, and Beast arguing loudly. Julian nodded at the door. "I can't make out what they're saying. Are we screwed?"

Laura didn't even need to incline her head to hear better. "Iceaman is claiming that while the countertop can be disinfected, his memory never can." She paused. "Emma Frost is contradicting this." She paused again. "Now Cyclops is reminding Iceman of a girl named Elise and Professor Xavier's old desk." She paused again. "Iceman is no longer saying anything."

Julian grinned. "So we're not screwed?"

Laura shook her head. "I was screwed. By you. If you have already forgotten, you may require medical attention. I can request that Beast run a CAT scan."

Julian looked sideways, a look of skepticism on his face. "You sound completely serious," he said. "I can never tell when you're joking and when you're not."

Laura offered one of her increasingly-common smiles. "The other girls tell me that I must maintain something called "feminine mystique." This has something to do with not allowing you to understand my motives for things. For now, I have chosen humor as the means of expressing this."

Julian's eyes bulged. "Please tell me you're not taking romantic advice from Cessily."

Laura looked back at the door. "Cyclops is assuring Iceman that we will be dealt with." She looked back at Julian. "I thought Mercury was one of your best friends."

Julian grimaced. "She is, for better or worse."  
"Why am I not supposed to seek romantic advice from her, then?"

Julian gritted his teeth, clearly not enjoying what he had to say next. "It's okay," he said. "It's just, Cessily and I have very different ideas of what good romantic advice is." When Laura still looked confused, he continued. "Remember how I told you you should try something girly?"

"The suggestion which led to my misunderstanding with the Danger Room?"

"Yes, that," Julian said, running a hand through his hair. _I still kinda feel responsible for the whole Danger Room thing_. "I think you should try out girly things. Cessily...if she had her way, 'girly things' are all you'd do."

Laura's brow knitted. "It is possible to be "too" girly? I was under the impression you like girls."

Julian rolled his eyes. "I do. But it's still possible to be too girly. You know, obsessing over jewelry and stuff. It can get annoying for guys. That's what I mean."

Laura shook her head. "I still do not understand."

Julian blinked at her a few times. "You know," he said. "Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea for you and Cessily to spend some time together. I don't think I can explain this stuff like she can. And it'd probably be good for you to get the fuller perspective."

Laura considered those words. He had made his distaste for the idea of her becoming "too girly" readily apparent, but was willing to risk this for her benefit. Despite the presence of a creature whose body temperature was well below freezing only a room away, Laura felt a warm feeling inside. She inclined her head onto Julian's shoulder. "Thank you, Julian."

Julian looked around at the door to Cyclops' office. "I wonder if they'll let us finish making dinner," he said. "I'm kinda hungry."

"Wolverine said earlier that they've ordered Chinese. Something about not letting Blindfold near the fortune cookies."

"Right." Julian looked down at the slight frame of the girl whose head rested on his shoulder. She was so small, so light and smooth and pale. And yet she'd murdered dozens of people, defeated highly-trained men three times her age in combat. She could probably have killed him fourteen ways before he could blink - and could probably have explained all of them to him in excruciating detail if he asked. The thought didn't frighten Julian particularly - he saw her as strong. Which is why there was one thing that didn't make sense. "Laura? Can I ask you a question?"

He felt her tense slightly. "You may ask," she said, hesitantly. "I will do my best to answer. But I cannot guarantee that I can or will."

_Fair enough_. "Okay," he said. He cleared his throat. "Back there in the kitchen. When you were angry. You mentioned that the Facility trained you to survive on your own if need be."

"Yes. It was imperative that I be able to survive on my own if I was given a long-term assignment, or in case of a serious deviation in short-term mission parameters requiring me to survive by myself for an extended period of time before extraction." She inclined her head to look into Julian's eyes. "What about it?"

"You used that training, didn't you?" Julian asked. _Here we go._ "When you became a prostitute. That was the Facility. They trained you to do that, didn't they? To survive that way."

Laura didn't respond immediately. Then..."Yes." When she felt Julian's hand clasp on hers tightly, she continued. "Survival in society is contingent on having a place within it. Those without a place stick out. In order to have a place, one must have a vocation - a means of survival. Prostitution is referred to as the "world's oldest profession" for a reason; it has existed in one form or another for thousands of years, it exists at all levels of society and in all geographic areas with significant population, and it is unlikely to disappear at any point in the foreseeable future. It requires little - a prostitute is not required to have a work permit or a social security number or a valid address or anything, really, beyond a desirable body, which, due to my mutation, I will always have. It is, quintessentially, the logical choice."

Julian breathed out. His hand was covering Laura's, holding it hard. His grip was so tense he could feel her adamantium claws under the skin. "I didn't make the connection," he said, softly. "When you told me about what you'd done to get by in New York, I hadn't understood why, and I couldn't figure out how to ask."

Laura looked confused again. "The way to ask would have been simple. The question, "Why did you choose prostitution as a means of survival?" would have prompted the same answer I just gave."

Julian laughed quietly. "Yeah, it would have, wouldn't it?" He shook his head. "Sometimes I forget just how different dating you is."

Laura smiled up at him. "Again you are forgetting things. I must heavily recommend the CAT scan." Julian smiled back. Laura inclined her head around at the door. "I believe the meeting is breaking up. We are about to be called inside."

Julian looked at the door too, then back at his girlfriend. "Ready to face the music?"

Laura shook her head. "There is no music-generating device inside the office, and none of its occupants are predisposed to musical performance. Aside from Logan, who occasionally sings in the shower."

Julian stood, Laura following him. "Wolverine sings in the shower? You've got to be kidding."

The two stood in front of the door. "I could ask him to sing a few lines once we're inside as proof."

Julian shook his head. "I don't think now's the time." He reached out and took Laura's hand again. "Ready?"

Laura nodded. "For anything."


End file.
